


The Time Klaus Hargreeves Killed His Brother Ben (And Regretted It)

by InTheEndgame



Series: Wreaking Havoc with the Hargreeves [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Drug Use, Gen, Ghosts, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Hospitals, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Mental Institutions, Murder, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sibling Rivalry, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Well It Might
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-11-09 02:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17992751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTheEndgame/pseuds/InTheEndgame
Summary: Klaus hated ghosts. This was nothing new.But then they became corporeal. And then they wanted things.Why couldn't they just go away?---Klaus was overridden with guilt. Ben was the only sibling who cared about him and he pushed him over a railing. Shame on him.





	1. Night at the Mausoleum

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when you get obsessed with a show. You order a hoodie online, you reblog countless memes and gifs of said show, and then you write a fanfic.
> 
> Playlist:  
> Bury a Friend - Billie Eilish  
> Blood//Water - grandson  
> Another Way Out - Hollywood Undead  
> Happy Pills - Weathers  
> 

 

**“What do you want from me?**

Why don’t you run from me?

**What are you wondering?**

What do you know?

**Why aren’t you scared of me?**

Why do you care for me?

**When we all fall asleep, where do we go?”**

* * *

 

Klaus didn’t like ghosts. He had enjoyed Casper when he was a kid and Sir Reginald had let them watch Halloween movies, but he felt like the movie lied to him.

 

Now, as he sat in the crypt, watching the specters watch him, he knew that it did. The spirits he faced were not friendly in the slightest. Instead, they had blood dripping from their mangled, rotting bodies as if they were zombies instead of translucent beings. Those ghosts grinned at him creepily, as though they were waiting for him to move so they could strike.  He called them the Mangled.

 

Some of the other ghosts were Screamers. They opened their mouths to grotesque proportions and just yelled, like Klaus wasn’t scared enough by the fact that he was surrounded by ghosts.

 

Next were the Watchers. They sat and watched as the others tormented Klaus, distant eyes managing to stare through his soul. The Watchers looked normal, and did nothing.

 

But the worst ones weren’t the Mangled or Screamers. No. The worst ones were the Kids. He hated them. Those ghosts would look at him with their round Bambi eyes and ask him for help, over and over, as if he were a mall cop instead of a thirteen year old. They’d tug on his uniform, and he could feel the cold wetness of their hands through the fabric.

 

It sucked.

 

As Klaus cowered in the corner, trying desperately to shut them out, the door to the mausoleum creaked open. There stood Sir Reginald Hargreeves, watching Klaus hide. The stoic face made the boy flinch.

 

“Number Four, have you overcome your fear of the dead?” the man asked. Klaus nodded, eager to escape.

 

“Do not lie to me, Number Four. You are cowering in the corner.”

 

Klaus darted away from the corner at once. “No, really! I’m not scared anymore!” he said. It was really hard trying to keep his voice steady. His Adam's apple bobbed with the effort.

 

Reginald looked at his pocket watch. “Then I don’t suppose you’d mind spending another hour here, would you, Number Four?” he asked.

 

Klaus’ shoulders sagged. “No,” he whispered.

 

“Excellent.” With that, Reginald shut the mausoleum door, leaving Klaus in the dark. The boy turned to face the corner. Ghosts of all kinds had shacked up there, but they looked...different. Most of them bore a sharp resemblance to the Mangled. The color drained from Klaus’ face as they approached, jaws twisted into permanent sneers.

 

Klaus ran to the door, banging his fists.

 

“No, please! Don’t leave me here!” he yelled.  “I lied! I’m not strong enough! I’m scared! Please!”

 

No one came.

 

He slid down the door, and hugged his knees to his chest. As the new Ghosts approached, he whispered to himself. 

 

“Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.”

 

 _“Klaus...”_ the Ghosts whispered. He shut his eyes.

 

“Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.”

_“Klaus…”_

 

“Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Five, Ben, Vanya!"

 

 _“_ **_KLAUS!_ ** _”_

 

“GO AWAY!”

 

The other spirits converged, surrounding him.

 

_“Help me…”_

 

_“Klaus, please.”_

 

 _“Klaus!”_  

 

_“Klaus!”_

 

 _“_ ** _KLAUS!_** _”_  

 

Klaus screamed.

* * *

“Number Four? Where are you? Reveal yourself this instant,” Reginald said. Klaus crawled into view. He didn’t remember crawling away from the door, but he had, it seemed. Years of dirt and dust clung to his uniform. Reginald eyed him distastefully, and Klaus’ heartbeat quickened.

 

“Come with me.”

 

Klaus followed the billionaire up the familiar path to the mansion, the tension in his body alleviated with every step. Once inside, Klaus dashed up the stairs. After grabbing a new uniform from his room, he made his way to the bathroom, determined to get a shower before Allison could try and hog the bathroom.

 

Klaus turned on the water, and watched as the steam smothered the room, the vapor clinging to every surface. When he deemed it hot enough, Klaus stepped in. The water was scalding, but Klaus loved it. He preferred the heat to the unforgiving cold of corpses.

 

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door, the sound quick and impatient.

 

“Allison, hurry up!” Diego yelled.

 

“That’s not me!” he heard Allison shout.

 

“Whoever it is then!”

 

As the two bickered, Klaus dried off and threw on his uniform. He brushed, rinsed, and spit, then opened the door to see Luther trying to stop the argument.

 

His siblings turned to face him.

 

“Klaus,” Luther said.

 

“Luther,” he replied.

 

Diego rubbed his neck, immediately sheepish. “Hey, Klaus. We didn’t see you come in.”

 

“Not like you would have said anything if you had,” Allison muttered.

 

“You don’t even talk to him!” Diego yelled.

 

Klaus turned away from the trio as they began to argue again. Normally, he would have egged them on, or maybe even got involved, but he wasn’t feeling up to it.

 

He never felt up to anything after a night in the mausoleum.

 

Klaus made his way to the dining room, where Mom was setting the table. She gave him a soft smile.

 

“Good morning, Klaus.”

 

He tried to imitate her expression. “Morning, Mom.” Klaus took a seat at the middle of the table, where he always sat. He was Number Four, after all.

 

His siblings trickled in after he sat down. Five was first, with his nose in a book on astrophysics. He sat next to Klaus, not saying a word.

 

Vanya was next, her eyes turned to the floor. She took her place at the end of the table and gave Klaus a small smile. He smiled back. They got along well enough when it was just them, although having any time to just hang out was getting more difficult with his “lessons”.

 

Allison, Luther, and Diego were next. Allison and Diego were both muttering under their breaths, while Luther was in the center, looking exasperated. They took their respective places at the head of the table.

 

Ben was last. His black hair stuck up on all sides, like he had just got out of bed. Knowing Ben, he had just got out of bed.

 

Ben took his seat between Five and Vanya and started spooning oatmeal into his mouth.

 

Klaus began to eat, taking small bites. He felt sick, but he knew that if he didn’t eat, Reginald would make Grace watch him do so.

 

A few bites in, he caught a glimpse of a ghost from his peripheral. Klaus set the spoon down and turned his head to see a Kid eyeing him from across the room.

 

“Hello?” Klaus whispered. The ghost opened its mouth and screamed. Klaus covered his ears, desperate to mute the shrill shriek.  

 

“Stop! Leave me alone!”

 

“Klaus.”

 

“Klaus…”

 

**“KLAUS!”**

 


	2. Fratricide by Klaus ft. Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn't mean to.

Klaus ran to his room, ignoring the calls of his siblings. He took the stairs two at a time, long legs crossing the distance with ease. Just as he reached his bedroom, a firm hand stopped him. Klaus whipped around, eyes wide with fear.

 

It was Reginald.

 

Klaus sighed with relief, though the tension didn’t leave his body. “Dad,” Klaus said. His breath came in short breaths, eyes flitting about the hall.

 

The monocled man arched an eyebrow. “Number Four.”

 

Klaus tried to school his features into an expression that didn’t convey how terrified he had been. “How...how have you been?”

 

Reginald looked at him, unimpressed. “The real query, Number Four, is what time you’ll be ready for lessons.”

 

Klaus gulped. “Lessons?” he asked, voice hardly higher than a whisper.

 

“Yes, lessons,” the man repeated, as if he hadn’t doomed Klaus to a night of harassment, as if Klaus were Vanya, playing the _violin_.

 

“I don’t think I’ll be ready today. I just had one last night.”

 

Reginald gave him an indecipherable look. “Perhaps you need a refresher.”

 

“I don’t think I do.”

 

“This is not a democracy, Number Four. You have lessons today. 9 PM sharp. Is that clear?” Reginald asked, a sharp edge to his normally stern tone. Klaus looked toward the ground.

 

“Yes.”

* * *

At 9 PM, Grace woke Klaus from his sleep. He had been taking a nap, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Reginald was waiting for Klaus at the bottom of the stairs. The billionaire didn’t speak, choosing to leave them both in silence as he led Klaus away from the mansion.

 

Fear coiled deep in Klaus’ gut. He wasn’t sure whether he was happy or regret not eating before his nap. On one hand, he felt like he was going to throw up. On the other, he needed all of his energy to survive that night.

 

Reginald didn’t give him the chance to dwell on it any further. They stopped in the cemetery, near the familiar crypt and nearer still Klaus’ condemnation. The old man unlocked the mausoleum door, and it creaked open, awaiting its sacrifice. Klaus walked in while his father watched him. “Twelve hours,” the man said. Klaus nodded, and Reginald shut the mausoleum door.

 

The attack wasn’t immediate, nor was it accompanied by the shrills of the Screamers, or the scrutiny of the Watchers. Instead, Klaus watched with transfixed eyes as ghosts crawled from the depths of hell into the mausoleum, each one with ghastly features.

 

It was the ghosts from yesterday.

 

“I don’t know what you want from me, but go away! I don’t want you here,” Klaus said.

 

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, because one ghost raised his translucent fist and took a swipe at him. Instead of the cold feeling Klaus expected from ghosts trying to beat him, he got the full force of the blow. Klaus fell to the ground with a thump, his cheek and sides exploding with pain.

 

Klaus pushed himself up and looked at the ghost, face white with fear. The ghost, a man appearing to be in his early thirties, stared down at him.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“I want blood.”

* * *

When Klaus was released that following morning, he made his way up to his bedroom, grabbed a change of clothes, and showered like yesterday. This time, no one was waiting for him outside the bathroom. Klaus dumped his laundry into the chute.

 

Klaus walked out of the room and down the stairs, where Pogo greeted him. “Your siblings have been waiting for you,” the doctor said. Klaus nodded in acknowledgement and made his way to the dining room, not quite crossing the threshold. All of his siblings were chatting and laughing. Even Vanya was having a good time.

 

As his siblings noticed him in the doorway, the conversation lapsed, all eyes turning to him. Only Ben didn’t stop talking, though he hesitated to continue at the sudden silence of the room.

 

“Hey,” Klaus said.

 

Allison smiled sadly. “Hey, Klaus. Is everything okay?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Five spoke up. “Well, come sit down then and stop hovering. It’s making things weird.”

 

Klaus took a seat between Allison and Ben and waited for his breakfast. Soon the conversation restarted, and for the first time in a while, Klaus felt himself relax.

* * *

The familiar mission alert blared, the sound reverberating through the mansion.

 

“Come on, come on! How do you expect the Umbrella Academy to be an effective crime deterrent if we cannot even get out of the house on time for missions?” Reginald barked.

 

Klaus jumped on his bed, watching the fire he’d set turn the paper into ash.  He couldn’t help himself. The ghosts from the mausoleum had come back every night, repeating what they said in the mausoleum. It made him nervous.

 

_“I want blood.”_

 

What, they wanted a blood sacrifice? Menstrual blood? Goat blood? Klaus made a face. If that’s what they wanted, they chose to haunt the wrong person. Klaus wasn’t a girl. Or a goat.

 

Every night he refused them, they hurt him. Klaus woke up bleeding and achy a few times since his first ever night in the crypt four years ago, but it was never as bad as it was now. His chest still hurt from whatever had happened to him last night.

 

Klaus watched as Grace, his “Mom”, swiftly put out the fire.

 

“Thank you, Mom,” he said. Grace smiled at him, and it looked so real that he took a moment to remind himself that she was not human, and she never would be.

 

Klaus jumped one last time, then hooped down, rushing down the stairs. Luther was already there, waiting for the rest of the team like he always did and fulfilling his role as “Number One”. Klaus shook his head.

 

“You know, Luther,” he said, dark eyes turned to his sibling. “Just because you’re Number One doesn’t mean dear old Dad loves you more, or treats you better. Try not to look so eager.”

 

Luther scowled at him. Number One opened his mouth to retort, but snapped it closed as Reginald appeared with the rest of the group—except Vanya, of course, who was in her room, playing violin—in tow.

 

The children piled into the back seat of their father’s limo, each pushing to get the best seat near the middle, but Luther won out as always. The other five took their places around him, and the limo drove off toward the crime.

 

“What do you think it is this time?” Allison asked.

 

“Hopefully nothing too big. I don’t want to have the tentacles out again,” Ben replied, frowning down at his chest.

 

Diego pat Ben on the shoulder. “It’s always big, buddy.”

 

Klaus snickered. “That’s what she said.”

 

Diego glared at him. “Not funny, Klaus.”

 

“It was a little funny,” Allison said, giggling.

 

“Funny or not, Diego is right. Dad wouldn’t have us use our powers for something petty. We have to give it all we got,” Luther added. Klaus noticed his eyes flicker to Allison, as if asking for approval. He shrugged it off. It wasn’t his business if his siblings were thinking about doing the nasty.

 

The group fell silent and stayed that way until they pulled up to a hotel. It was grand, with multiple stories and shining glass windows.

 

Pogo let the kids out.

 

“Children, within those walls resides a most despicable enemy: drug dealers. Your job is to locate and incapacitate them by any means necessary. Do I make myself clear?”

 

The kids nodded, and made their way into the hotel. Once inside, Luther turned to them.

 

“Alright, team, you know what to do. Allison, Rumor them. Diego, Knife ‘em. Ben, do your tentacle thing. Five, you teleport. And Klaus…” Luther said.

 

Klaus sighed. “I know. Be on the lookout.”

 

The others dispersed, and Klaus went to take a seat behind the receptionist’s desk. The chair wasn’t very comfortable.

 

After about five minutes of radio silence, Klaus saw a man walking into the hotel lobby, looking suspicious. He pulled out a walkie-talkie and murmured something into it.

 

Klaus ducked down and crawled over to a pillar. He peered around the pillar, and noticed Ben on the third floor. Luther was across the lobby, placing a finger on his lip. Just then, the man with the walkie-talkie whipped out a gun and opened fire, killing some shady guy near the doors. Then it was all out mayhem.

 

Luther was in the lobby in an instant, smashing his fist into the man’s face.

On the second floor, Allison was busy Rumoring another man into giving her his gun, and Diego was knifing every remotely suspicious person in sight. And on the third, Ben had already released his tentacles, the long appendages tossing everyone and everything in sight. He couldn’t find Five, but he assumed he was off being an asshole like always.

 

“Klaus, get to cover!” Luther yelled.

 

Klaus took the elevator and pushed the third floor button. He figured that if Ben could take out all those guys, he’d be safer there. Like he was at home.

 

“Now’s your chance,” someone whispered. Klaus turned to face the man from the mausoleum, who grinned at him.

 

“I want blood, Klaus,” he said.

 

“Isn’t there enough for you already? It’s all over the place by now. It’s mayhem.”

The man shook his head, still grinning.

 

“You need to do it.”

 

“Why me?”

 

“You’re our connection. You make us stronger. Closer,” the ghost said, leaning against the wall of the elevator.

 

The elevator doors opened, and Klaus was faced with a weary, bloody Ben. The ghost tsked, looking at him.

 

“Don’t you see, Klaus?” he said. “He wants to die. No one wants his life. No one wants his power, not even him. Put him out of his misery.”

 

Klaus started shaking.  “No, it’s Ben. I can’t hurt him,” he said.

 

“Ben doesn’t even want to be alive, Klaus.”

 

Klaus shook his head. “That’s not true.”

 

Klaus saw Ben look at him from the corner of his eye. “Klaus, are you okay? Is it the ghosts?”

 

Klaus wanted to say yes, but he shook his head. “No, I’m just scared,” he said. Ben gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

 

“Me too.” Ben walked over to the railing and looked down.

 

“You think we should go down there?” Ben asked. He turned to Klaus, who was shaking even harder.

 

“Do it! He’s right there!” the ghost hissed.

 

“Klaus?”

 

Klaus walked over to Ben, until he was maybe a foot away from Ben.

 

“I’m so sorry, Ben,” Klaus sobbed.

 

“Klaus? What do you mean?”

 

“DO IT!”

 

Klaus didn’t answer Ben, and gave him a hard shove. With a surprised shout, Ben tumbled over the railing and out of sight. Klaus didn’t move, afraid to look down. He heard Allison scream.

 

“BEN!” his siblings cried. He snuck a peek over the railing, and saw Ben’s prone form on the ground floor, surrounded by his siblings and the criminals they had taken out.

 

He slid down to the ground, shocked. The man next to him smiled, and gave him a tactile pat. “Good boy,” he said, before walking off.

 

“Klaus? Klaus! Where are you?” he heard Allison yell.

  
  
Klaus heard his siblings plan to search for him, and listened for the familiar squeak of their shined shoes. He took a look around, and found a bag full of needles. Klaus stuffed one into his coat just in time for Diego to come up to him, eyes red.

 

“Klaus, there you are,” the other boy said. “C’mon, we’re going home.”

 

Klaus let Diego pull him to his feet and away from the railing. They took the elevator down, and saw Luther and Allison waiting for them.

 

Allison ran up to Klaus and hugged him. “Ben is dead,” she sobbed. Klaus wrapped his arms around his sister, desperately wishing that he hadn’t been the cause of her pain.

* * *

When Reginald found out about Ben’s death, he showed no outward emotion. Klaus didn’t point out the fact that their Dad had taken an extra bottle of scotch with him to his office, or that he looked hurt by the revelation.

 

Pogo was upset, as Klaus expected. Grace couldn’t be upset, he didn’t think, but a flick of emotion seemed to pass through her eyes nonetheless.

 

But the one he hadn’t expected to be so hurt was Vanya. She cried for hours after she heard what happened to Ben, having to be consoled by both Pogo and Grace before she could even think about talking about him.

 

Five had gone. He just up and disappeared after Ben’s funeral.

 

And Klaus...well, he still had the needle, but hadn’t dared to touch it.

 

Well, he hadn’t dared for a while, but the next time Reginald locked him in the mausoleum, Klaus had taken it.

It worked so well in making the ghosts go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Klaus...
> 
> Also, in case anyone is confused about the progression of events: 
> 
> Klaus is haunted by four different types of ghosts. They can't touch him. One day, a new type appears, ones that I call the Dires. They force people like Klaus to do bad deeds to reinforce their own corporeal strength. Because he's afraid of being hurt, as any 13 year old would be, he caves and kills Ben.


	3. Please, Ben

The Hargreeves siblings may have already had an official funeral, with fans barred from the mansion crying and Reginald saying some words that he didn't really mean, but this was for them. Ben was their sibling after all. He shared their birthday, their home, their whole existence. They deserved to see him off alone and in peace. 

 

The five kids stood around his statue, careful not to step on the fresh grave dug under it. They each held their own umbrella, because it was raining and Pogo had insisted. 

 

“Does anyone wanna say a few words?” Luther asked, trying to clear the air. No one spoke. 

 

“I’ll go,” Allison said. She stepped forward and cleared her throat. 

 

“Ben, if you’re listening”—she paused there to give Klaus a hopeful expression he didn’t acknowledge—”I love you and I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you better. I just…” Allison trailed off, tears welling in her eyes. She burst into tears, and let Luther guide her away from the grave and into the house. 

 

Three kids were left. 

 

“When we find out who did this, we’ll get them. I promise,” Diego said, patting the statue. He, too, walked into the house. 

 

Vanya, who was also crying, stepped forward. “Oh, Ben…” she said. “I wish you had more time.”

 

Vanya and Klaus stood there for a long time, sharing the moment of solidarity. They were around Ben the most, after all, so it made sense that they had the most time to grieve. Needed it, actually.

 

About an hour later, the light rain had turned into a downpour, and the two were soaked. Still they stood, unable to tear themselves away. Vanya was frozen with grief, and Klaus was ripe with guilt. 

 

Suddenly, a voice sounded from the doorway. It was Grace, standing there with her own umbrella. “Children, it’s time to go inside,” she said. 

 

Klaus and Vanya looked to each other, then at their mother, and nodded. They followed her inside.

 

\---

Klaus walked back to his room, slightly dazed. He knew intellectually that Ben was dead, but it didn’t seem real until he saw Allison peek over at him, eyes hopeful that Ben was listening. Well, that and the fact that Ben has been hovering silently by his side since the incident, his face torn between being contorted with rage and sadness. 

 

Klaus sighed, closing his door and sliding down to the floor. He eyed the box under his bed shiftily. He didn’t want to use the marijuana and pills stashed there, really, but Ben haunting him gave him the chills and the fact that Klaus murdered him didn’t do much for his conscience.

 

Making up his mind, Klaus grabbed the box and pulled it from under his bed. He shook some pills into his hand when a ghostly hand smacked him—hard. The pills flew out of his hand and Klaus turned to his right, where Ben sat glaring at him.

 

Klaus lowered his eyes. “I just want to be free,” he said. 

 

Ben gave him a stony look. “And I want to be alive! But you ruined it, just like you ruin everything else!”

 

“I’m sorry!” Klaus said.

 

“It’s too late for sorry! Sorry doesn’t bring me back to life!”

 

Klaus raised his hands in submission. “I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t haunt me for eternity.”

 

“You can’t bring me back.”

 

Ben sighed. “Maybe I’m better this way,” he said. “At least I know our family actually cared about me.”

 

Klaus shook his head. “Ben, don’t say that…”

 

“And what am I supposed to say? That I want my life back? I’ve already said that!” Ben yelled. He looked at the pills across the floor.  “And what, now you’re doing drugs? Wasting your life after taking mine?” the ghost asked.

 

“Ben…”

 

“No, I don’t want to hear it, Klaus.”

 

“I’m sorry.”


	4. Guilty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Implied self-harm warning.

Klaus really hated being a medium. Every day, Allison shot him hopeful glances, as if she were expecting him to bring Ben back to life so they could all be one happyish family. Vanya glanced at him from time to time too, though the look wasn’t so much hopeful as it was observant. 

 

Luther...well, he was strange. They never really talked in the first place, but now he seemed to go out of his way to avoid Klaus, even turning around whenever he was in the room.  And Diego? Well, Diego was ever the vigilante, always pushing himself further and faster and longer. 

 

All of them combined served to make Klaus feel really shitty, but they were nothing compared to the specters that had come to haunt him every night.

 

After Ben’s death, the Dires went away. After all, Klaus had already spilled his brother’s blood like they wanted. However, it didn’t take long for them to come back, hungry for more.

 

Klaus rubbed his eyes. He needed a drink. 

 

Klaus tiptoed down the stairs, making sure to avoid the creaky second last step. The sound of pattering feet made its way through the hall, following Klaus as he opened the kitchen door. 

 

The kitchen was dark, the only light streaming in through the window. Klaus didn’t dare turn on the lights in the house, instead using the natural light of the moon to guide him toward the cupboards. Just as he was about to reach for a cup, a sob reached his ears. Klaus left the kitchen. He followed the sound all the way to Vanya’s room and knocked politely. 

 

He was greeted with bloodshot eyes and a runny nose as Vanya looked up at him. “Yes, Klaus?” she asked, unable to keep the weariness from her voice. 

 

“Was that you crying just now?” 

 

Vanya rubbed her nose on her sleeve. “If I say no, will you go away?”

 

“No.”

 

The girl sighed. Then yes, it was me. I just...had a bad dream.”

 

“At seven in the evening?” Klaus asked.

 

Vanya shot him a surprisingly nasty glare. “Yes. Will you go now? I want to be alone.”   
  


Klaus went to say something, but held it back. He nodded. Vanya shut the door and he made his way back to his room, no longer thirsty.

 

Klaus shut the door and flopped on his bed. Suddenly, a Dire, a woman this time, appeared next to him. “How does it feel knowing you’ve called your sister such strife?” she asked.

 

“I didn’t do anything,” said Klaus. “Vanya said it was a bad dream.”

 

The woman threw her head back and laughed. “You know as well as I that it was anything but. She was thinking about Ben.”

 

Klaus glared. “You have no right to say his name.”

 

“More than you, no? I didn’t murder him.”

 

“It was you and your kind...you made me do it,” Klaus said.

 

“Keep deluding yourself then.” With that, the woman was gone. Klaus found it strange that she didn’t order him to do something dangerous like the others but shook it off. He curled into his blankets, a small voice whispering in his head. 

 

_ “It’s all your fault. You killed Ben. You tore apart the family.” _

 

Klaus dutifully ignored it. 

* * *

A few nights later, Klaus was walking through the halls, the quiet atmosphere helping settle his nerves. He’d been on edge since the last Dire visit, and his mind wasn’t doing him any favors by supplying him with awful images of Ben’s mangled corpse. As he wandered, he heard voices come from inside Allison’s room.

 

“—really think he did it?”

 

It was Allison. Klaus leaned closer to the door. 

 

“He was the only living person up there,” Luther said. “Ben fell from the same floor and Klaus was the only one there. Right, Diego?”

 

Diego huffed. “Well, yeah, but Klaus didn’t do it. We all loved Ben, and he and Vanya probably loved him the most. Klaus couldn’t have killed Ben.”

 

“I dunno…Maybe Luther’s right. Klaus wasn’t with any of us when Ben hit the ground,” Allison replied. 

 

“Because Luther told him to run away!” Diego yelled.

 

“Look, Ben was clumsy, but he wasn’t clumsy enough to go falling over a railing! I don’t want to believe it either, but all signs point to Klaus,” Luther said.

 

"Signs that you painted!" Diego snarled.

 

Klaus wrenched himself away from the door. He’d heard enough. His siblings thought he’d killed Ben. And the worst part? They were right.

 

Klaus took off to his room. He had to do something, something to make himself forget that he was a horrible person for just a few seconds. 

* * *

When Klaus woke, it was to the bright lights of the infirmary. He went to move, but his arms were fastened to the bed.

 

“I-it’s so you don’t h-hurt yourself,” a voice said. Klaus turned to face Diego.

 

“What happened?” 

 

“I found you in your room. You were bleeding so much…” Diego trailed off.

 

Just then, Pogo stepped into the room, face forlorn. “Master Klaus. Master Diego,”he greeted.

 

“Pogo? What’s going on?”   
  


Pogo hesitated. “Your father told me to tell you to pack your things. You’re going away for a little while.”

 

Klaus looked at Diego, whose eyes were wide with shock.

 

“I don’t want to go away,” Klaus said.

 

“I’m afraid you have little choice in the matter, Master Klaus.”

 

And so, a few days later, Klaus jumped into their limo, suitcase first. He stuck a hand out of the window and waved to his siblings. 

 

“See you when I get back!” he yelled. 

 

The four Hargreeves nodded, but little did they know, they wouldn’t see Klaus for years to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for taking so long to get this out. I also apologize if you think this chapter was shitty because I had a bunch of writer's block while trying to get it out.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know in the comments what you think (or if I need to put warnings)!
> 
> Also, follow me on Tumblr @ostensiblyklaushargreeves!
> 
> And if you want more (better) content, check out "The Dead Aren't Good Company" by RosyPages, "wake my spirit cold" by colonelcatastrophe, and "A Revolving Door, Never Closing" by OakTreeDruid!


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